With Dak Prescott out for the foreseeable future, the Cowboys could turn to what made them a dominant force in 2016. The run game with Ezekiel Elliott.
When an injury happens in football, it is often a case of the next man up. At the quarterback position, this is not exactly how to approach it. For Dallas, without Dak Prescott, Cooper Rush will be under center for at least four games, likely eight.
This presents a golden opportunity for Kellen Moore to return to what made Dallas a powerhouse over the years, the run game.
Last season, it was clear that Ezekiel Elliott was a shadow of his former self. He lacked explosiveness, struggled to find the running lanes, and when he did manage it, there was no power to his game, and he was often swallowed up rather quickly.
“We ran the ball efficiently last week and I’m looking forward to [doing so in Week 2]… Just gotta protect Cooper [Rush] and establish the run game.”
– Ezekiel Elliott on losing Dak Prescott and preparing for Bengals
Are 10 carries enough?
“Nah.” pic.twitter.com/KWFx8fSVKO
— Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) September 14, 2022
Of course, we now know that he had a partially torn PCL. Now fully healthy (it seems), Elliott looked like the dominating back that torched opposing defenses with brutality.
The problem with that last year was given what Jerry Jones had just given Dak Prescott in terms of his contract, a four-year, $160 million deal with $95 million fully guaranteed; Jerry would not have wanted Dak to throw 15-20 times a game while Elliott feasted on the ground.
Against Tampa Bay, Elliott looked like his old self. With Cooper Rush under center, it is the perfect time to let Elliott and Pollard feast. Especially given the lack of weapons out wide for Rush to throw to.
https://twitter.com/dallascowboys/status/1206369932415508480?s=20&t=hIe8kAfg48c9siueImOGdQ
Dallas got away from the run game on Sunday night as they had to chase the game but given the run game was the only thing that seemed to work, they should have stuck with it. Zeke’s power was back; he ran with anger, found the creases, and, more importantly, fell forward for extra yards at every opportunity. From his 10 carries, he mustered 52 yards, going at 5.2 yards a clip. That will work.
The other side of the running back coin is Tony Pollard. Elliott is the power back who will punish you with his physicality; Pollard is the twinkle-toes back that possesses lightning in his cleats. His speed and ability to change direction were a feature last season as he had his best output since entering the league in 2019. From his 15 games, Pollard totaled 719 rushing yards and two touchdowns while catching 39 passes for 337 receiving yards.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said RBs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard “both hold their own. I look at both of those guys as No. 1 runners. …Zeke and Tony both have that ability” to play all three downs. Team making a more concerted effort to have them share field in 2022. pic.twitter.com/z2MsFGCJVe
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) September 7, 2022
Together, the pair are the perfect foil for Cooper Rush. They can take the pressure off him and force defenses to stack the box. That will then allow receivers to have a better chance at winning on their routes, something which looked like an impossible task against the Buccaneers.
It is time to go back to the run game for the Cowboys. With Elliott looking like he has his burst back and Pollard continually improving, we can’t be seeing Rush throw 30 times against the Bengals.
Will it work? Time will tell, but in Elliott and Pollard, the Cowboys have a running back duo that, if given a chance, can do some serious damage.
Sorry, too late for that now. In the 1st half and clearly in the game last week Moore kept with his tendency to abandon the run whether ahead or behind and still with games in reach. Moore obviously doesn’t value a running game and is enamored with the passing game, which by the way he is no guru in that phase as well. With Dak out and 3 of the top 4 receivers from last year not available with no solid replacements it is no question defenses will stack the box anyway.
Respectfully, IMO not only does “Rush need help” from the run game, but so goes DP, as we clearly saw on Sunday night and many fans are clamoring about.
Zeke is probably one of my favorites on the team along with ZM and MP. Many fans are down on EE maybe b/c of the contract, and his regression after his SPECTACULAR first three years. Would be great if EE can continue his “burst” to get to the second level. But now that’s where his runs end as he doesn’t have the any long speed he used to have. But that may be enough. Is the run game going to be enough vs Bengals to have a shot at winning? Will be tough, but we’ll soon see. Odds makers say NO, as the spread ballooned to Cowboys +7.5 AT HOME.
Agree Adam with your great point, Jerry didn’t overpay DP to throw the ball 15-20 times.
Many fans do not realize this fact, and ironically some of them, at that time, were screaming “PAY THE MAN!!!, PAY THE MAN!!! Well, they got what they wanted, a now overpaid, overrated, injury prone QB.
Bottomline, Jerry “thought” he was investing in an elite talent. Hey everyone makes mistakes.
Elliott is WAYYYYYYYYY overrated. He hasn’t shown in 3 years…..no reason to think he will this season either.
This team does NOT possess elite O talent. Dak is not elite nor is Lamb…. all overhyped and overpaid.
Yes we need to run it more, but more than that, Moore/MMC or whoever the hell calls offensive plays got to be smart about how we run the ball, like what are we doing having Pollard pass block ? Lmao, let him run routes, check why not let him play slot quite a bit in this upcoming game ? Can’t be worse than what we got out there rn,
Moore sometimes impresses me with his playcalling, but then other times I’m just dumbfounded by the stupidity of some plays, just bizarre, and he hasn’t utilized Pollard correctly yet, like look at what Mixon doing in Cincy, look at Cards with Conner, like we need to use Pollard in that similar type of role and I think he’d be great, enough with the dumb trick plays that never work, and enough treating him like he’s the same kind of back as Zeke, we need to use this guy the right way and I think that will be big to our success, his usage, Zeke, Ceedee needs to step up, and Schultz needs the ball more, then maybe we can at least be competitive in some of these games till Dak can get back